I Promised
by Adjust the Sails
Summary: The unsteady beep of the heart monitor was going to drive Ludwig insane. How could he let this happen to Feliciano? Human AU.
1. Chapter 1: 7 Days Since

_Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia_

**I Promised**

_Chapter 1: 7 Days Since_

The unsteady beeping of the heart monitor was going to drive Ludwig insane. He listened for his friend's breathing, each rattled inhale and exhale a sign that he was still alive. He couldn't stand to see Feliciano so bruised and pale.

A heavyset woman in bubblegum pink scrubs bustled in, checking her patient's vitals and interrupting Ludwig's brooding. "How do you feel today, Mr. Beilschmidt?"

"Fine," was his empty reply. The nurse had seen him here every day for the past week, and the broad-shouldered blond most certainly did _not_ look fine to her.

"Y'know, you could always go home for a meal. Mr. Vargas will be right here when you get back."

Ludwig didn't answer right away. He knew better than to believe empty promises from an optimistic health professional. "_Nein_, I have to keep him company. He panics when he's left alone."

"His brother visits oft-"

"I don't see him here." Ludwig looked up at the woman, ice blue eyes daring her to try again. But she did't bite. Instead, she replenished her patient's supply of morphine and left. Ludwig was thankful for her absence. He knew she was doing her best, but her cheerfulness kept him on edge. It was as though she wasn't treating dozens of dying people. His dying friend. The tall man was so lost in thought that he didn't notice two brunettes enter the ward.

"You're still here, Potato Bastard?" Lovino Vargas walked up to the bed, followed by his curly-haired boyfriend, Antonio.

"Well," the German accused in his thick accent, "you weren't around. Someone has to stay with him."

"I'm here now, aren't I,_ bastardo_? You think you can just waltz in here and tell me how to deal with this? _Mio fratello_ is dying!" Lovino's voice rose, cracking on that last word. Antonio put a warning hand on his shoulder.

"Lovi, we have to be quiet, remember? He needs all the sleep he can get, _pobrecito_." The usually animated Spanaird spoke softly, as though all his energy was drained. It was; he was up with Lovino all night, holding his shaking form as he cried for his little brother.

Ludwig stood, wishing to avoid an argument right in the middle of the ICU. He shuffled out to the hallway and took a seat on a cold plastic chair. He lowered his head into his hands, fighting to keep his tired eyes open. While he couldn't decide if the scene before him or the images behind his eyelids were worse, he knew the one with less blood would be easier to stomach._ If there is a God_, he mused, _he's doing a shitty job._

* * *

**Translations:**

_Bastardo_- bastard  
_Mio fratello -_ my brother  
_Pobrecito_ - poor thing

Reviews are encouraged :) Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2: 9 Days Since

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Hetalia._

_Chapter 2: 9 Days Since_

Ludwig sat in the decrepit plastic chair next to Feli's hospital bed. In two days, they'd tried two new medications, so he was awake even less. The chipper nurse with pink scrubs said that sleep would help his body heal, but without much food, Feliciano was growing weaker. The bags under his eyes were darker, and his usually sunny voice could barely manage a hoarse whisper. Ludwig hated to admit it, but he missed the constant babbling.

"Ve~ Ludwig...? Do you remember... the sixth grade?" He struggled over the words, wheezing.

Ludwig snapped to attention, grateful for his friend's brief spell of consciousness. "_Ja_, Feliciano. Which part?" He knew the answer, but this was a conversation they'd had many times. Being the man he was, he didn't want to mess with routine.

"The part... when we be... became friends."

"Of course I do," Ludwig smiled, "You were my only friend."

"_Si_... That day was my... favorite... part." Feli managed, breaths slowing as he fell back to sleep.

"I will always remember that day, _mein Italienisch_."

* * *

_Ludwig Beilschmidt walked towards his math class in stony silence. He could feel curious stares on his back, but he kept his eyes on the floor. As a German student in an Italian middle school, the towering 11 year old looked like a fish out of water. And he felt it. Being a foreigner was bad enough, but being super tall and super shy didn't help the situation. The other students were intimidated by Ludwig, and he didn't know how to fix it._

_He was so absorbed in trying to be inconspicuous that he didn't notice the small boy until he was under his feet. _

_"Ow! _Scusi_, _scusi_..." he chattered, strings of excuses and pleas flying in rapid Italian from his mouth. Ludwig hadn't quite grasped Italian yet, but he knew every kid in this school had taken English classes._

_"_Nein_, it is my fault. Are you okay?"_

_The boy took a moment to process his second language, marred by Ludwig's heavy accent. He eventually got the message, replying "Oh, si! You're the new kid! Ve~ _Buongiorno_! I'm sorry for bumping into you. I didn't want to be late for science." He ran off, copper hair flopping on his head as he bounced through the crowded hall. _

_The rest of the morning passed without incident. At recess, Ludwig saw the boy in the cafeteria. He was speaking amicably to another boy who looked just like him, except an inch taller and with darker hair. The taller looked sour, as though he had just swallowed a Sicilian lemon- or 10. The smaller didn't seem to notice, keeping his eyes closed and his hands busy. At lunch, he saw the tiny Italian surrounded by friends. It was a stark contrast to Ludwig's empty corner near the trash cans. He was thankful for his peace and quiet, however, when he caught the aggravation on each of the boy's friends' faces._

_By 3 o'clock, Ludwig was almost ready to cry. He'd been here for a week and a half, and nobody had spoken to him besides the tiny kid in the hallway. He slammed his locker closed in frustration, surprised to hear a squeak behind him. He whipped his head around and came chest to face with the small boy from that morning. _

_"Ve~ I saw you alone at lunch today. Do you want to be friends?" the kid asked, recovering from his small fright. Ludwig was at a loss for words. "I can help you with your _Italiano_," he added, beaming._

_He didn't know what to say. Could he really be friends with this guy? They seemed so different. But somebody was better than nobody. "_Ja_. That would be... _buono_. I'm Ludwig." _

_"Ve~ _Il mio nome è Feliciano_!"_

* * *

From then on, the two were inseparable. Sure, there had been days when Ludwig had wanted to rip his ears off and feed them to the dogs. And yes, Feli got on his nerves. A lot. But Ludwig believed they brought out the best in each other, and he couldn't have asked for a better friend (okay, maybe a quieter one, but still).

Ludwig smiled slightly, taking Feli's limp hand. "Mine, too, Feliciano," he whispered. "Mine too."

* * *

**Translations:**

Si - Yes

Mein Italienisch - My Italian

Scusi - Excuse me

Buongiorno - Hello/Good day

Ja - Yes

Buono - Good

Il mio nome è... - My name is...


	3. Chapter 3: 10 Days Since

_Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or any of the characters. _

_Chapter 3: 10 Days Since_

The Vargas living room was eerily quiet. Now removed from the constant chatter of medical equipment, Feliciano's family and friends sat in a tense silence. Not even Gilbert, Ludwig's obnoxious brother, was cracking jokes like usual. Whoever spoke did so in a hushed whisper, barely audible over the heavy weariness that enveloped the large group.

Everybody had come to wait out the surgery. While anesthesiologists put Feliciano under, Ludwig paced. Matthew quietly looked at the pictures on the walls. Kiku and Arthur sipped tea. While surgeons put on masks, Toni wrapped his arm around Lovino's shoulders. It was the first time surrounded by people that he didn't pull away. While Feli's punctured lung was tackled, Alfred tackled the mountains of food that Elizabeta couldn't stop making. While his swelling brain was tended to, Lovino, Francis, and Gilbert drank.

On his third beer, Gil spoke up.

"Guys, this is ridiculous. So not awesome." He continued under hard stares, "The guy is the life of the party- unless the awesome me is around, obviously. Do you think he'd be happy to know that this is the first time everybody's been together under the same roof in years, and we sat on our asses and stared at the floor?"

"Hmph... He does have a way of bringing us all together," Roderich ceded.

"He sure is a hell of a lot more cheerful than Lovi," Antonio smirked, dodging a smack on the arm from his boyfriend.

"He is a better cook than Arthur by a mile," chimed Ivan.

"Even Potato Bastard is a better cook than Arthur!"

"Oi! There's nothing wrong with my cooking!"

"Aiyah! Tell that to my taste buds, Mr. Boiled Beef and Scones."

Laughter and memories flowed through the room. It seemed as though each person had a hilarious story to share. Even Kiku stopped sensing the mood every now and then to chuckle. This is more like our pasta-lover, the eldest Beilschmidt thought. He looked at his little brother, who had stopped pacing to join the fun. He still looked like a sleep-deprived zombie, but at least he was smiling a little.

13 hearts skipped a beat as the telephone rang. Lovino dove for the receiver.

"_Si_? ..._Si_. _Si_." He paled considerably. "No. _Si_. _Grazie_." He hung up the phone, hands shaking. The strangled whimper that escaped him didn't sound much like Lovino Vargas. There were only two things that he could have heard. Neither were very good.

After a second that felt like a century, Matthew mumbled, "Well?" The room was filled with such silent anticipation, the Canadian was actually audible.

"The _bastardo_ that hit him did too much damage," Lovi muttered bitterly.

Ludwig could barely make out the next words over the roaring in his ears as his heart raced in panic. He silently prayed to whatever entity was out there; _Bitte nehmen ihn nicht noch._

"He barely made it through the surgery. There's nothing they can do. He's got days."

* * *

**Translations:**

_Grazie_ - Thank you

_Bitte nehmen ihn nicht noch.._- Please don't take him yet.


	4. Chapter 4: 10 and a Half Days Since

_Disclaimer: I think it's pretty obvious by now that I don't own Hetalia..._

_Chapter 4: 10 and a Half Days Since_

If Feliciano Vargas looked bad before, he looked 10 times worse today. The bags under his closed eyes were deep purple. His shaggy copper hair, limp and dirty, clung to his forehead. His already small frame had wasted away to nothing, his sunken eyes and protruding bones giving him a skeletal appearance. He looked like he was already dead.

Ludwig didn't think there could possibly be more tears left in him, but there they were, silently slipping down his cheeks and nose and dripping onto the front of his t-shirt. His best friend in the whole world, the one person he could always count on- the one person besides his brother that he truly loved was lying there, barely breathing. "It's all my fault," he whispered to himself.

"What's your fault, Potato Bastard?" Lovino and Antonio had heard him across the cramped space. The staff had moved Feli into a tiny private room in the west wing of the hospital for his final hours. They do this for all of their lost causes so that the families can grieve privately.

"This." He gestures to Feliciano. "When we were kids, I promised him that I would always protect him, no matter what. That I'd always be there to take care of him when he was picked on or hurt. But here I am," his voice cracked, "in a plastic chair next to his god damn death bed."

The eldest Vargas gave him a wicked glare. "You really are an _idiota_. You think I don't understand? He's my baby _fratello_! It's my job from day one to protect him! But how could we protect him from a drunk driver in a parking lot?" He became quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he muttered, "I would give anything to take his place."

This struck Ludwig oddly, as he'd only ever known Lovino to be kind of a selfish bastard. After Antonio left to find a vending machine, Lovino continued, "It should be me lying there, not him. Everybody loves Feli. He's kind and warm and friendly. Anyone who ever knew him will miss him. Even Nonno liked him better. Me, I'd be lucky if even Toni missed me."

"Feli would miss you," Ludwig offered. The two shared the tiniest of smiles. Ludwig's eyes, desperate for a better view than the distraught and dying brothers, tried the large window on the westernmost wall. The sun was sinking over the harbor, silhouetting the fishing boats beautifully. _He would've painted that_, he thought. Ludwig sat, reminiscing, for at least an hour.

Sudden sobbing snapped his attention back to the scene before him. Antonio wrapped an arm around Lovino's shoulders as he gripped his brother's right hand with both his own, panic and pain etched into his features. Terrible sadness and grief gripped Ludwig's heart as Feli's breathing became slower and shallower. Lovi's last goodbye was choked out between sobs. _"Ti amo, mio fratello. Potere Dio proteggere tuo anima."_

Knowing this was his last chance to say it, he grabbed his tiny hand and whispered, "_Ich liebe dich_, Feliciano. I miss you already."

As Feliciano Vargas drew his last breath, the sun disappeared over the harbour.

* * *

**Translations:**

_Ich liebe dich_ - I love you

_Ti amo_ - I love you

_Potere Dio proteggere tuo anima_ - May God protect your soul

I am so sorry it took me so long to write this! My exams are coming up and I started a new book and this story just got pushed to the wayside. Thanks so much for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews. They're all very appreciated. I've been doing my best with translations, but Word Reference and Google Translate are only so accurate. Thank you for reading~  
-Mia xo


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